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Orange ricotta cookies are incredibly tender cake like cookies that burst with orange flavor from orange zest. The ricotta cheese makes them incredibly moist.

We eat the cookies as it but you can sprinkle powder sugar over the top of them or make an orange glaze to drizzle over the top. If you have chocolate chips on hand, a handful tossed into the batter are incredibly good, just remember to count the points.

Please see the recipe card below for exact amounts and directions.

Ingredient Round Up

  • Pillsbury sugar free yellow cake mix
  • Fat free ricotta
  • Egg whites
  • Zest and Juice from an orange
  • Water

Making the Cookies

  • Using a hand grater, remove the zest from a large orange.

  • Place the cake mix in a bowl. Add the ricotta, egg whites and orange zest.

  • Collect the juice from the zested orange. My orange wasn’t very juicy and only yielded a couple of tbsp. Add the orange juice to the mixing bowl. Add a portion of the water and start to mix the ingredients together with a hand or stand mixer. You are looking for a thick batter. If the batter is too thick, then more water and continue to mix until you have a thick batter.

  • Use a small cookie scooper and place scoops of batter onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.

  • Bake the cookies until they spring back when lightly pressed. Remove them from the oven and transfer them to a cooling rack.

  • The recipe yields 82 cookies. Set aside the cookies you will be serving.
  • Freeze the rest of the cookies. Place them on a baking pan that will fit in your freezer. Put a piece of wax paper between the layers of cookies. When all the cookies are on the tray, cover them with plastic wrap and stick them into the freezer.

  • After they freeze, transfer them to a freezer bag for longer term storage. Remove cookies to thaw just before serving.

Serving Ideas

  • The cookies can be served for dessert or as a mid-afternoon snack with a cup of tea or glass of lemonade or iced tea.
  • You can serve the cookies as is or dust them with powder sugar.
  • They can be drizzled with icing made from powdered sugar and some orange juice.
  • These cookies are also good with a drizzle of chocolate or caramel sauce.

 

WW 1 pt per cookie, 1 pt per 2 cookies, 2 pt per 3 cookies

Orange Ricotta Cookies

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Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Cooling Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 20.1kcal

Equipment

  • hand grater
  • hand mixer
  • cookie sheets
  • small cookie scooper
  • cooling racks
  • parchment paper

Ingredients  

  • 1 box Pillsbury sugar free yellow cake mix
  • 15 oz fat free ricotta
  • 2 egg whites or 1 whole egg - I used egg whites
  • zest from a large orange
  • 2 tbsp orange juice, that's what my orange yielded
  • ½ c water
  • 2 tbsp additional water

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350℉.
  • Zest the orange and set the zest aside until you are ready for it.
  • Juice the orange and take note of how much juice you collected. If your orange yielded a lot of juice, you may need to use less water.
  • Place the cake mix, ricotta, orange zest, egg whites and orange juice in a mixing bowl.
  • Measure out ½ c of water and add a portion of it to the mixing bowl. Use a hand mixer or stand mixer and start to beat the ingredients together. You are looking for a thick batter. Add more water as needed and continue to beat until you have a thick batter. I added 2 tbsp of orange juice, ½ c of water plus an additional 2 tbsp of water to get a thick batter. If your orange yielded more than 2 tbsp of juice, you may need to add less water. See the photo up above in the main post to see the batter consistency.
  • Scoop the batter out onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Place in the oven and bake for 10 min. The cookies are done when they spring back when lightly pressed or when a tooth pick comes out clean.
  • Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to cool.
  • Repeat the last 2 steps until all the cookies are baked and transferred to the cooling rack.
  • Set aside the cookies you want to use immediately. Transfer the others to a cooking tray. Separate the layers with wax paper. When all the cookies are stacked on the tray, cover them with plastic wrap and put the tray into the freezer. There is a photo in the main post.
  • When the cookies are frozen, transfer them to a freezer bag and return them to the freezer. Remove cookies from the freezer to thaw 30 - 45 min before serving.

Notes

I

Nutrition

Calories: 20.1kcal | Carbohydrates: 4.7g | Protein: 0.8g | Fat: 0.24g | Sodium: 44mg
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